Ranking SEC defenses entering the 2016 season

John Crist| 4 years ago

The SEC had 51 players chosen in the NFL Draft this past April, yet again more than any other conference.

The defensive side of the football was well represented, including 13 who went in the first three rounds alone — four in the first, five in the second, four in the third. This league will always play D.

Alabama, the defending national champion for the fourth time in seven years, saw four defenders get selected in Round 2. Reggie Ragland, A’Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed and Cyrus Jones were all sensational in Tuscaloosa. But they won’t be missed. It’s not an insult to say so. No team reloads like the Crimson Tide.

As is usually the case, the SEC features an embarrassment of riches at the defensive line positions. Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett, as a matter of fact, could go No. 1 in next year’s draft. He’s a vicious pass rusher.

Here are our Top 5 defenses in the conference as we prepare for 2016. Spread offenses, you’ve been warned.

5. tennessee

Statistically, the Volunteers weren’t overly impressive a season ago. It was a middle-of-the-back defense.

But practically every starter that matters returns, so the Vols will feature one of the more experienced units in the nation. It’s time for all that talent and potential to pay some legitimate dividends, though.

The front four is anchored by pass rusher Derek Barnett, who was a double-digit sack man as a freshman and sophomore. The heart and soul on D is linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who’s a sideline-to-sideline terror. In the secondary, while he doesn’t pick off many passes, cornerback Cameron Sutton can be a shutdown guy.

All three were preseason All-SEC first-team selections by the media. The only other program to put a trio of players on the first-team defense was Alabama. Tennessee’s blue-chippers can play with anybody.

While the Vols didn’t have any second- or third-team picks — the Tide did, of course — more stars are in the pipeline.

4. lsu

Purely in terms of recruiting rankings, the Tigers have just as much talent in the facility as ‘Bama does.

The Bayou Bengals have had at least one defender taken as early as the second round in every draft since 2011, including five in Round 1. But the Tide have enjoyed more consistent success as a unit defensively.

Coaching could have something to do with it, as Nick Saban is always a defense-first guy and Kirby Smart was his coordinator the past nine years — now he’s the top Dawg at Georgia. Dave Aranda comes to Baton Rouge after three strong seasons coordinating the D at Wisconsin. Insiders simply love the hire.

Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Aranda has never had horses like this before. Lewis Neal leads a ferocious pass rush. Kendell Beckwith is a tackling machine at linebacker. Tre’Davious White (above) has the skills necessary to be a lockdown cornerback.

Many are saying that Aranda is the most important new assistant in the SEC. He could be a head coach soon.

3. georgia

The aforementioned Smart, previously a safety for the Dawgs, takes over for Mark Richt between the hedges.

His first task will be locating pass rushers. The speedy Leonard Floyd and powerful Jordan Jenkins are now gone. Fellow linebacker Davin Bellamy is the lone returning Bulldog with multiple sacks from a season ago. Lorenzo Carter has all of the measurables, but he hasn’t broken through yet.

Scheme familiarity shouldn’t be a problem for Smart. Former coordinator Jeremy Pruitt went from Alabama to Florida State to Georgia to Alabama a second time — coincidentally, he returned to Tuscaloosa to replace Smart. New coordinator Mel Tucker spent the 2015 campaign with the Crimson Tide coaching defensive backs.

Smart should be quite excited to inherit safety Dominick Sanders, as he played the position himself. Fresh off an All-SEC performance, Sanders leads the secondary and has intercepted nine passes in just two years.

In the trenches, be on the lookout for a breakout season from tackle Trenton Thompson. He’s a future stud.

2. florida

The Gators watched five defenders go in the draft this April, including a pair of first-rounders.

Holes need to be plugged at every level. Jonathan Bullard was nasty up front. Antonio Morrison led the team in tackles. Vernon Hargreaves locked down half the field. Keanu Neal delivered crushing hits.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Fortunately, there are several candidates up and down the depth chart ready to make a name for themselves. Cece Jefferson (above) flashed a lot of upside immediately as a freshman pass rusher. Jarrad Davis turned down a shot at the NFL to be the top linebacker. Jalen Tabor was perhaps better at corner in 2015 than Hargeaves.

Second-year coach Jim McElwain is an offensive guy. There is a lot of work to do on that side of the ball, as UF was downright horrid finishing out the slate a year ago. He’ll again ask his D to pick up the slack.

Only Alabama had more sacks last season than UF’s 40. A similar number helps win the field-position game.

1. alabama

The Crimson Tide were tops in the SEC in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense a season ago.

No matter how many players coach Nick Saban sends to the NFL, there are simply more future pros to choose from once spring ball arrives. The amount of four- and five-star prospects at his disposal is staggering.

Robinson and Reed are gone. But Jonathan Allen and Da’Shawn Hand are back. Ragland has departed. Ryan Anderson, Reuben Foster and Tim Williams — each is on the Butkus Award watch list — remain, though. The defensive backfield, led by safety Eddie Jackson, is deep as ever. That’s saying something in Tuscaloosa.

Don’t expect Smart’s defection to have much of an effect, either. Pruitt’s only year as the coordinator at FSU was 2013. The Seminoles won a national championship and fielded the No. 1 scoring defense in the land.

Saban must find a new starting quarterback yet again. As usual, he won’t feel the need to score that much.

MISSING THE CUT

Arkansas: Deatrich Wise Jr. was one of the better pass rushers in the league last season with 8.0 sacks, but no other Razorback had more than 2.0.

Auburn: Kevin Steele is Gus Malzahn’s third defensive coordinator in four years. He didn’t get much out of Will Muschamp in 2015, either.

Kentucky: While Mark Stoops put together one of the best defenses in the country as a coordinator at FSU, he doesn’t have the same level of athlete on hand in Lexington.

Ole Miss: The Rebels didn’t slow down many teams last year. They just outscored opponents with Chad Kelly at quarterback. Expect a similar game plan most weeks.

Mississippi State: Richie Brown, the leading tackler and sacker this past season in Starkville, is one of the SEC’s most underrated players. Get the young man some help.

Missouri: The Tigers would have made the Top 5, but Walter Brady’s dismissal hurts the pass rush badly. Mizzou’s front four is its strength, and all of a sudden that strength isn’t what it once was.

South Carolina: In terms of total yards allowed per game, the Gamecocks were the worst defense in the conference a year ago. And now Skai Moore is done for 2016 with an injury.

Texas A&M: Considering how good their front four is, with Garrett and Daeshon Hall outside and Daylon Mack inside, the Aggies shouldn’t have been such a ho-hum unit last season.

Vanderbilt: Like in-state rival Tennessee, the Commodores warrant Top 5 consideration. Zach Cunningham and Oren Burks would be standouts for any program in the country.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

New LA folks couldn’t write when they came to the US. Immigrating to the South, officers would spell their name correctly (ending in “eau”) and ask them to “make their mark” next to their name. Since they couldn’t write, “making their mark” meant literally drawing an “X” next to their written name.

Lsu has nine returning starters on defense, several of which are superstars. We have a HUGE upgrade at dc to go along with the talented experience, it’s not hard to see lsu being the number one sec defense. All the others in the top five are close, but I’m going with lsu number one. And it’s not like I put lsu number one at everything either. We have probably the third best offense in the sec, not first.

The thing is you don’t have the 3rd best offense in the SEC either. Sorry but LSU is not going to be the best Defense in the SEC. I believe their pass defense will improve but how much is yet to be seen as they were 12th last season in passing defense. 3rd dec in 3 years means that defense is trying to learn their 3rd scheme in 3 years….You put every LSU unit over proven better units in the SEC. It’s ok to be a homer, you do it well.

I can see this. I’m a Tiger 24/7 and I proudly display my purple and gold love in every country and state I travel to, but I’m also a realist. Until we beat Bama, they are the king of the hill and we are just the annoying little brother plotting on how to take the crown with the rest of the dysfunctional family. Angry Butch Lil Miss Drunk Uncle Auburn Rowdy Cousin Arky Newly Divorced aTm and Loud Nephew MSt.

I’d put auburn at #5. I think they’ll have a better defense overall their d-linemen will be nasty. I haven’t seen Kongbo yet but still. Is it Trey Williams? The previous 5 star LB auburn has? Anyway, he’s a beast along with their front four, plus they have a CB that might become better than Cam Sutton. Also having Tray Matthews doesn’t hurt. Too bad their offense will be horrid. I’m just saying I’d take the barns defense over Tenns this year, not overall team, tho. auburn might win 7 games while Tenn could win the east even tho they aren’t my pick.

Not a bad list. I do think Tennessee is better than 5. With Shoop at the helm we could be 1 by the end of the season, he is that good a DC. Same with UGA, Smart is incredible. Right now, I think UT’s and UGA’s defenses are pretty close. As for Florida, I think they will see some serious falloff this year. I don’t believe they’ll be as good as UT or UGA’s defense, simply because they lost a lot of veterans last year. They still have Tabor, who is incredible, but I’m not sure it will be enough. That said, I have questions about LSU’s defense so I’d probably leave Florida at number 2 right now in the preseason. My list (and take it with a grain of salt):

1. Alabama (I foresee a dropoff since losing Smart, but not much since Pruitt is an incredible DC, and maybe not so much that they don’t stay atop by the end of the season) 2. Florida (I see a definite dropoff, but right now I leave them at preseason 2) 3. Tennessee / Georgia (Bob Shoop is a top tier DC and can match up with others in the conference, and with the DLine weapons he has and his aggressive style, I see him right now having a better defense in the preseason than LSU / Kirby Smart can make any defense great and with the weapons he has at UGA, he could easily have the best defense in conference by the end of the season) 4. LSU (Dave Aranda is a great get, but I think think he’s as good as Shoop, Smart, or Pruitt, and considering the poor defensive performances last season, I have them at 4 in the preseason, but Aranda could easily improve them with the returning talent he has) 5. Missouri / Vanderbilt (Missouri was great last season and they keep their DC, now as the HC / Vanderbilt has steadily improved their defense, Mason will have them as a top 5 defense in conference with his limited weapons by the end of the year, and really has them in a top 5 position now)

All 4 Dbacks are returning from the top pass D in the SEC last year. A ton of talent at LB and Dline. The LB’s have experience. The only real question is how the extremely talented youngsters perform on the Dline. What don’t you like about UGA’s Defense?

Maybe should consider how many triple option offenses UGA played last year that might inflate those #1 pass defense stats. UGA is suspect along the defensive line and probably LB too. They do have some athletes in the secondary.

While I slightly disagree on the order of the top 5, I agree it’s the rt 5 tms.

Also agree with LSU and UAT having just as much or equal roster talent with each having various advantages at diff positions. Tide has better LBs and DTs are about even. LSU has slight edge at DBs IMO. Either way, both are extremely talented. LSU will be much improved with upgrade at DC and Tide will be typically great. Can’t see putting anyone over Tide rt now though.

The order of finish is right where it should be. LSU gave up 275 passing yards to Treon Harris. That in my book puts them outside the top 5. With that said LSU will be better then last season but they are not Alabama and Florida caliber. Remember it took Derrick Henry 42 rushes to score 1 TD against a gased Florida Defense in the SEC championship game. They held Henry to 187 on 45 rushes that was more than a yard per carry less then his average. Again that Defense was on the field for 45 minutes that game. Give Florida an offense and that defense is even better. Georgia was a strong defense last season and will be again with Mel Tucker running the show and Kirby Smart having a hand in the pot as well. 1. Bama 2.Florida 3.Georgia 4. LSU 5.Vandy/Texas A&M

Yes watch A&M this season, they will be much better this season. And Vandy is a lot like Florida, give them an offense and they will dominate. Tennessee has not stopped anybody of significance and will not this year ither. Always over rated.

Usually “stopping” somebody implies that you won the game. The Vols didn’t stop either one of them when it mattered in crunch time. Also, you left out giving up 28 to Florida, 31 to Georgia, 24 to South Carolina and 28 to Vanderbilt. All four of those offenses finished 9th or worse in the SEC scoring points. I think Tennessee’s defense will be pretty good this year, but last year it was disappointing more often than not.

That was a Florida team who’s offensive numbers were obliterated halfway through the season when Trashcan Harris took over the offense. Tennessee played them when they actually had a QB and a competent offense.

Actually, he is a God-awful writer who doesn’t really do any research normally. I swear his game by game predictions were nothing more than coin flips with a fact from last season. Also he’s an ACC fanboy

I actually rather agree with John. The people who think he is the worst are the bigger homers on the site. This list looks accurate as a “preseason” list. It may be completely different in 4 months, but until then we don’t know. If your mad he didn’t list Ole Miss, he shouldn’t have. We werent great on defense last year and this year is up in the air.

You can substitute Texas A&M for Tennessee except for the linebacker position in the list at #5. Chavis will have more depth and experience returning to improve the position against the run. I’m ready to see it.

I dont like making preseason predictions, but I would like to know who lets these people write these articles. They contradict themselves and each other all the time. I’ve seen multiple articles stating that Florida looks to have the top defense in the SEC, but then we get to this article and Bama is the best? I would agree the Bama probably will have the top defense because they’re some sort of freaks over there, but why publish other articles stating differently? It was the same when they predicted every West team’s first lost and chose Florida to beat LSU, but then an hour later released Florida’s game by game predictions and had the Gators losing to LSU? I dont mind predictions, but I would like some consistency in these articles

I think LSU fans can agree with this assertion: the DC at LSU has more control over the defense than the DC at Alabama. If you accept that, and you look at how much more change Aranda is doing to LSU’s D compared to Pruitt, then you can maybe look at how with the level of talent on both defenses you can give the nod to Bama. LSU has more experience, but some of that is negated by a significant scheme change. Now, I also have no problem with someone saying LSU is as good as Bama, but I would have them tied at 1st. I just couldn’t give the nod to LSU, all homering aside, simply because of the scheme changes and given the significant differences in defensive stats last year. All are SEC rankings. Scoring: Bama 1, LSU 10 Rushing: Bama 1, LSU 3 Passing: Bama 6, LSU 12 Total: Bama 1, LSU 5 Average: Bama 2.25, LSU 7.5 And that Alabama secondary last year was good, and improved from ’13 and ’14, but still gave up a lot of big plays. But they’ll be even better this year, considering last year had a true freshman Fitzpatrick, a RSF Humphrey, and a 1st-year Safety Jackson starting, with the usual next DB up for Dime packages another true freshman Harrison. We might lose a little against the run, although I wouldn’t count on it being a lot, but we also have a scary good pass rush returning 35.5 sacks in only 5 players(avg./player 7.1, which would be good enough for each one to tie for 2nd @ LSU last year behind Lewis Neal’s 8). Again, I think LSU is definitely, at worst, 2nd behind Bama. But not better.

definitely agree. LSU is a total wild card. Who knows if the scheme will work. We know the talent is there (this unit STILL has a lot of the same starters from 2014 when we ranked 8th in the NCAA in ypg, and the recruits comingin are top flight.) But I definitely agree that you can’t assume everyuthing will be peachy. It’s going to take some figuring. I’d be ok with being behind several teams. But I do understand why we keep getting rated so highly. The potential is there, but I’m a believe it when I see it kinda guy. Have high hopes for the defense next year, and I know that Steele was a terrible mistake, but you can’t snap your fingers and fix everything everytime. sorry for errors, site is so slow

Lol I like your handle; I try to be a reasonable non-hateful Bama fan myself. I absolutely get why people question Bama AND LSU being ranked where they are (not just on this list). But I really like our D this year, and if Aranda and co. can coach yours up to the new scheme, like you said the talent is there. Should be fun come November.

excited to see the return of an attacking philosophy. It seemed like our ball hawking DB’s were always on their heels last season, waiting for a pass rush that never developed. I want to be jamming every play and blitzing safeties/corners like the good ol days.

Mizzou not on this list is a felony. Walter Brady was great but he can be replaced by the loaded d-line. They have multiple options. Other than that they only lost 2 starters on a defense that carried them to 5 wins due to the worst offense in CFB. They had a top 3 defense last year and it won’t change. They almost had a couple more wins due solely to the defense. Look at the Florida game in the swamp.